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(02/11/14 6:40pm)
Author Janine De Tillio Cammarata asked her audience members to close their eyes and picture the person who means the most to them — whether it be the seemingly invincible parent, their sibling or their soul mate.
Then she asked them to imagine what it would be like if that person was gone forever.
Cammarata was thinking of her 13-year-old son, Nick, who she lost to acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2008.
Cammarata reflected on Nick’s life and how she can better the community in his honor during her presentation, “The Power of Giving and How It Transforms Us.” Held in the Library Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 8, the event was was co-sponsored by Colleges Against Cancer and the freshman class council in order to teach students how to band together, give back and make a difference in their communities.
“Nick was the sunlight in my family,” Cammarata said.
In summer of 2008, Nick became fatigued while he was swimming. Bloodwork later revealed the terminal diagnosis.
After going through chemotherapy, battling a bout of severe infections and recovering from an appendectomy, Nick finally went into remission on Oct. 18 of that year. However, he suffered a spontaneous brain hemorrhage and died eight days later.
“Why did this happen? What was the purpose?” asked Cammarata, as she went into detail about the numbness she felt during the first year after Nick’s passing. “You can’t stop living your life. You have to find a way to honor that person.”
In order to honor Nick’s memory, Cammarata founded a nonprofit organization called “Nick’s Fight To Be Healed.”
The foundation raises money for families of children with cancer and strives to improve and provide resources to help children with cancer lead fun and fulfilling lives.
Members of “Nick’s Round Table” are teens who want to make a difference in the lives of other teens battling cancer. They purchase iTunes gift cards, video games and other items to help distract young adults during treatment.
“We noticed a real need for distractions for teenagers,” Cammarata said. “They don’t want to do arts and crafts at the hospital.”
The logo of the organization, a dragon, a shield and a sword, was inspired by Nick’s love for all things medieval, a passion Cammarata shared with her son.
“(It) was all and more than I expected,” freshman marketing major Derek Carper said. “I was really touched and inspired by her story and her ability to stay strong.”
In November 2012, after two years of interviews, Cammarata published, “What Makes Them Amazing! Inspiring Stories of Young Adults Fighting Cancer.” The book follows nine young adults battling cancer and illustrates their changes in perspective.
“You never get over something like this, but you get through it,” Cammarata said about losing her son. “You get through it by giving back, not only to channel time and energy, but (also) to make a difference in the lives of others.”
(02/11/14 6:40pm)
After 35 years of serving on the Ewing police department, Wayne Kemper wanted to retire in a peaceful town surrounded by respectful neighbors. He wanted to retire in the neighborhood he grew up in.
Unfortunately, that is not what the veteran officer received.
For years, the Brae Burn neighborhood of Ewing has struggled to maintain good relations with the students from the College who rent housing in their town.
Now, the approval of Wilson Gearhart’s proposal to use the land at 129 Crescent Avenue to construct more housing for college students to rent has brought up concerns about an increase in noise, littering and cars parked up and down the street.
“If there’s a college house in the neighborhood, we want the grass to be cut, and we don’t want beer bottles strewn about the lawn,” Kemper said at a site review meeting in November. “We usually get what we want. There are more nice kids than dirty ones that live in this neighborhood … but there’s always a few that get wild and try to tear up my mailbox.”
Carolyn Carmichael, a resident of St. Paul Avenue, had similar complaints.
“We’ve had problems for years with College kids, and they are just going to keep getting worse as new places for them to live keep popping up,” Carmichael said.
In Sept. 2011, Kemper was featured in an article on ABC Action News that addressed retirees’ complaints about noisy college students in their neighborhood.
“I’ve had it,” Kemper told reporter Nora Muchanic. “I’m sick and tired of it. I worked all my life to live where I’m living now and now I have to put up with this.”
Two years have passed, and still not much has changed.
According to that article, there were about “100 rental houses in the Ewing Park-Brae Burn section occupied by students from TCNJ and Rider University, kids who neighbors say drink and party ’til all hours of the night.”
A 2012 article in the Trentonian stated that “Ewing currently has 732 single-family homes that are now rentals,” the majority of those belonging to college students.
Before he retired, Kemper said he would sometimes write 500 tickets a month to students from the College, mostly for drunkenness and disturbing the peace.
At a meeting last year, Della Sutton of Crescent Avenue told the township that students from the College tore down her mailbox five times in that past year. She added that they throw garbage onto her lawn, throw eggs at her home, and have even taken checks out of her mailbox. She called the police twice.
Valeria Caffe shared similar stories and even suggested that a surveillance system in the neighborhood might offer some relief for residents.
It has been 13 months since that meeting, and no system has been put into effect.
In June 2012, Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann said “enough is enough,” referring to “landlords who routinely convert single-family houses into rooming houses by chopping them up to exploit the properties and create what are essentially off-campus dormitories.”
“This is not about landlords making a buck, they are not building in character with the neighborhood, and they need to show some common decency for the community,” Steinmann said.
Despite the mayor’s declaration, homes in the Brae Burn neighborhood continue to be renovated into college rentals.
“It’s a disgrace,” said Delores Smith, a retiree living on St. Paul Avenue. “The town has no respect for us.”
Smith is a member of the Brae Burn Association. According to the group’s website, “The mission of this civil association is to be pro-active in keeping the quality and values of our homes as well as to provide a medium for exchange of ideas and concepts that promote harmony, safety and a wholesome neighborhood.”
The College’s Task Force has indicated to the Association that students have been given rules for behavior when living off campus and can be disciplined for violating the code of conduct, Smith said.
“The College doesn’t enforce its rules like it used to,” she said.
Smith had no shortage of stories about the havoc that College students have wreaked on her neighborhood.
“One man told us about a college couple having sex on his lawn,” Smith said. “He asked them to leave and they laughed and cursed him off. When he threatened to get his gun, they left. He doesn’t have a gun, but it sure got them to leave.”
Smith says that members of the Brae Burn Association have sent many letters to the College and to College President Barbara Gitenstein, but claims that these letters have gone unanswered.
“We just want some peace,” Kemper said about the issues. “Haven’t we dealt with enough, and for long enough?”
(11/12/13 5:23pm)
By Sydney Shaw
Correspondent
Students, family and faculty filtered into the Mayo Concert Hall on Sunday, Nov. 10 to enjoy an important capstone for all music majors — the senior recital.
Music education majors Katie Saxton and Bruce Krywinski put on a show that earned a standing ovation and brought several audience members to tears, alternating back and forth between their songs in a display to remember.
Krywinski opened with a piccolo performance of the first two marches from Telemann’s “Douze Marches Heroïques: La Grâce” and “La Majesté.” According to Krysinski’s recital notes, “La Grâce is a lyrical march often performed at weddings. La Majesté has a regal air about it and boasts a march feeling that makes a bold announcement.”
Saxton, president of the American Choral Directors Association at the College, opened with a romantic German piece titled “Bei dir sind meine Gedanken.” The mezzo-soprano also sang opera pieces in Italian, French and English.
Krywinski then played Hummel’s “Concerto in E flat” on the trumpet, a bold piece from the 1800s. He also performed Enescu’s “Légende,” which featured fast-paced passages and a dramatic climax.
The cornet, with which Krywinski had only practiced for two months prior to his performance, was used to play Clarke’s “Sounds from the Hudson.”
“I searched for information regarding events in the composers’ lives that may have been reflected in their music,” Krywinski said. “I also find out whether the pieces themselves are supposed to tell a story, like Enescu’s ‘Légende.’”
Saxton smiled through her last solo performance, Lee Hoiby’s “Where the Music Comes From.” The piece had a flowing rhythm and sent a positive message about growing and learning.
The finale, though, was Saxton’s rendition of “Lida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You?” from Broadway’s “The Music Man.” Saxton was joined by a barbershop quartet of Brian Lang, Kyle Sheehan, Matt Thomas and Daniel Malloy.
“It’s crazy how fast it goes,” Saxton said. “You prepare for this day for so long, and it flies by when you’re out there. It’s nerve-wracking, rewarding and amazing all at the same time.”
Later that evening, senior Emma Peterson also performed vocally in a solo recital performance.
“The shows were brilliant,” sophomore music education major Eddie Eassie said. “I love senior recitals. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for students to perform at a high level.”
“Even though the recital is over, there is still work to be done,” Saxton said. “I have chosen music as my profession, and it’s a lifelong commitment to improving my craft.”